I have a bad back & some days standing for long periods aggravates it, so I've used a wooden TV tray, but I don't put it fully up. I use it so the top is angled like an architect's desk. That way it's easier on my back & I get a better cut as my view of it is much better in the sitting position. (Sort of like a big tilt table!)

I have a bad back & some days standing for long periods aggravates it real bad, so I've used a wooden TV tray, but I don't put it fully up. I use it so the top is angled like an architect's desk. That way it's easier on my back & I get a better cut as my view of it is much better in the sitting position. (Sort of like a big tilt table!) You still need to use the cutting mat, but the tilted table makes it easier to control as you're cutting. Bigger pieces of fabric are draped over the top of the table.

Precuts are fun, but you must learn to cut fabric correctly.......either find a tute or go to your LQS, it just takes a little patience with yourself and holding ruler/template correctly and using rotary correctly.......you can do it, don't limit yourself to precuts.

cutting material
 

Have we all forgotten sissors for cutting fabric?
Use a lap-size piece of smooth plywood,place it n your lap, sharp pencil to draw around template (used to be called "block pattern pieces) then cut on the pencil line. It worked for many years before rotary cutters.
Phyllis
84 yrs in Oregon
72 yrs quilting

I have a high stool with a back that I got at a thrift store. It has wheels so I can move it around. I sit at my dining table. I was having trouble missing spots until I discovered you have to have your cutter at a higher angle. It is very easy to find yourself lowering it and then the blade doesn't get the pressure it needs to cut. I do all my cutting this way.

I bought a small table at Sam's club that I can set at any height I need. I lower it low enough that I can get a good cut setting down. I use two for two of my machines and keep one for cutting , wrapping gifts or other things I need to do setting down. I have RA so it has been such a great help for me.

I have almost always cut while sitting down, mostly because I have difficulty standing for long periods of time. I had my old kitchen table, which was very large with all the leaves in it, but after moving we did not have room for it, so I now use a banquet type table, where I can adjust the height, or my dining room table to use for cutting and sewing. I find that I may have to take breaks more often, but sitting is the only way I can manage right now, especially with my arthritic joints. I can sympathize with your problem, as I had shoulder surgery a few months ago. I hope that you will start feeling better soon and be able to do things the way you are used to doing them.

I had a full knee replacement this past summer and I did not have much pain. I had to wear a brace the first 5 weeks because of instability. I almost always cut sitting down. I just make sure my table is lower or my chair is higher so I am looking down on my cut. Also you do have to watch the angle of your rotary cutter to make sure it is going through all layers. I also could not do it for a long time when my knee was bad because of swelling, I braced it up on something when I could but not always. Good Luck

I too, have major issues with standing so just do my cutting and almost everything while sitting. I cut small things with a mat and rotary cutter on my small ironing board which sits on a tv tray by my machine, The big jobs I sit at the dinning table. It works for me. Good luck with finding what works for you.

I use a drafting chair when I want to sit and cut. Because the chair goes up so much higher than a regular pump up type chair, I can use it with my regular cutting table. I have a friend who is in a wheel chair and cuts on a drafting table at a slight tilt. It keeps her from having to bend over.